[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 267 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.267
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen
An Act
To improve hydropower, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

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(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Hydropower
Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is as
follows:

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Congress finds that--
(1) the hydropower industry currently employs approximately
300,000 workers across the United States;
(2) hydropower is the largest source of clean, renewable
electricity in the United States;
(3) as of the date of enactment of this Act, hydropower
resources, including pumped storage facilities, provide--
(A) nearly 7 percent of the electricity generated in the
United States; and
(B) approximately 100,000 megawatts of electric capacity in
the United States;
(4) only 3 percent of the 80,000 dams in the United States
generate electricity, so there is substantial potential for adding
hydropower generation to nonpowered dams; and
(5) according to one study, by utilizing currently untapped
resources, the United States could add approximately 60,000
megawatts of new hydropower capacity by 2025, which could create
700,000 new jobs over the next 13 years.

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Subsection (d) of section 405 of the Public Utility Regulatory
Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705) is amended by striking ``5,000''
and inserting ``10,000''.

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(a) Applicability of, and Exemption From, Licensing Requirements.--
Section 30 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 823a) is amended--
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the
following:
``(a)(1) A qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall not be
required to be licensed under this part.
``(2)(A) Any person, State, or municipality proposing to construct
a qualifying conduit hydropower facility shall file with the Commission
a notice of intent to construct such facility. The notice shall include
sufficient information to demonstrate that the facility meets the
qualifying criteria.
``(B) Not later than 15 days after receipt of a notice of intent
filed under subparagraph (A), the Commission shall--
``(i) make an initial determination as to whether the facility
meets the qualifying criteria; and
``(ii) if the Commission makes an initial determination,
pursuant to clause (i), that the facility meets the qualifying
criteria, publish public notice of the notice of intent filed under
subparagraph (A).
``(C) If, not later than 45 days after the date of publication of
the public notice described in subparagraph (B)(ii)--
``(i) an entity contests whether the facility meets the
qualifying criteria, the Commission shall promptly issue a written
determination as to whether the facility meets such criteria; or
``(ii) no entity contests whether the facility meets the
qualifying criteria, the facility shall be deemed to meet such
criteria.
``(3) For purposes of this section:
``(A) The term `conduit' means any tunnel, canal, pipeline,
aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar manmade water conveyance that is
operated for the distribution of water for agricultural, municipal,
or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of
electricity.
``(B) The term `qualifying conduit hydropower facility' means a
facility (not including any dam or other impoundment) that is
determined or deemed under paragraph (2)(C) to meet the qualifying
criteria.
``(C) The term `qualifying criteria' means, with respect to a
facility--
``(i) the facility is constructed, operated, or maintained
for the generation of electric power and uses for such
generation only the hydroelectric potential of a non-federally
owned conduit;
``(ii) the facility has an installed capacity that does not
exceed 5 megawatts; and
``(iii) on or before the date of enactment of the
Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013, the facility is
not licensed under, or exempted from the license requirements
contained in, this part.
``(b) Subject to subsection (c), the Commission may grant an
exemption in whole or in part from the requirements of this part,
including any license requirements contained in this part, to any
facility (not including any dam or other impoundment) constructed,
operated, or maintained for the generation of electric power which the
Commission determines, by rule or order--
``(1) utilizes for such generation only the hydroelectric
potential of a conduit; and
``(2) has an installed capacity that does not exceed 40
megawatts.'';
(2) in subsection (c), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``subsection (b)''; and
(3) in subsection (d), by striking ``subsection (a)'' and
inserting ``subsection (b)''.
(b) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (d) of section 405 of the
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2705), as
amended, is further amended by striking ``subsection (a) of such
section 30'' and inserting ``subsection (b) of such section 30''.

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Section 5 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 798) is amended--
(1) by designating the first, second, and third sentences as
subsections (a), (c), and (d), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (a) (as so designated) the
following:
``(b) The Commission may extend the period of a preliminary permit
once for not more than 2 additional years beyond the 3 years permitted
by subsection (a) if the Commission finds that the permittee has
carried out activities under such permit in good faith and with
reasonable diligence.''.

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LOOP PUMPED STORAGE PROJECTS.
(a) In General.--To improve the regulatory process and reduce
delays and costs for hydropower development at nonpowered dams and
closed loop pumped storage projects, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (referred to in this section as the ``Commission'') shall
investigate the feasibility of the issuance of a license for hydropower
development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped storage projects
in a 2-year period (referred to in this section as a ``2-year
process''). Such a 2-year process shall include any prefiling licensing
process of the Commission.
(b) Workshops and Pilots.--The Commission shall--
(1) not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, hold an initial workshop to solicit public comment and
recommendations on how to implement a 2-year process;
(2) develop criteria for identifying projects featuring
hydropower development at nonpowered dams and closed loop pumped
storage projects that may be appropriate for licensing within a 2-
year process;
(3) not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this
Act, develop and implement pilot projects to test a 2-year process,
if practicable; and
(4) not later than 3 years after the date of implementation of
the final pilot project testing a 2-year process, hold a final
workshop to solicit public comment on the effectiveness of each
tested 2-year process.
(c) Memorandum of Understanding.--The Commission shall, to the
extent practicable, enter into a memorandum of understanding with any
applicable Federal or State agency to implement a pilot project
described in subsection (b).
(d) Reports.--
(1) Pilot projects not implemented.--If the Commission
determines that no pilot project described in subsection (b) is
practicable because no 2-year process is practicable, not later
than 240 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Commission shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of
the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources of the Senate a report that--
(A) describes the public comments received as part of the
initial workshop held under subsection (b)(1); and
(B) identifies the process, legal, environmental, economic,
and other issues that justify the determination of the
Commission that no 2-year process is practicable, with
recommendations on how Congress may address or remedy the
identified issues.
(2) Pilot projects implemented.--If the Commission develops and
implements pilot projects involving a 2-year process, not later
than 60 days after the date of completion of the final workshop
held under subsection (b)(4), the Commission shall submit to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a
report that--
(A) describes the outcomes of the pilot projects;
(B) describes the public comments from the final workshop
on the effectiveness of each tested 2-year process; and
(C)(i) outlines how the Commission will adopt policies
under existing law (including regulations) that result in a 2-
year process for appropriate projects;
(ii) outlines how the Commission will issue new regulations
to adopt a 2-year process for appropriate projects; or
(iii) identifies the process, legal, environmental,
economic, and other issues that justify a determination of the
Commission that no 2-year process is practicable, with
recommendations on how Congress may address or remedy the
identified issues.

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CONDUITS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary of Energy shall conduct a study--
(1)(A) of the technical flexibility that existing pumped
storage facilities can provide to support intermittent renewable
electric energy generation, including the potential for such
existing facilities to be upgraded or retrofitted with advanced
commercially available technology; and
(B) of the technical potential of existing pumped storage
facilities and new advanced pumped storage facilities, to provide
grid reliability benefits; and
(2)(A) to identify the range of opportunities for hydropower
that may be obtained from conduits (as defined by the Secretary) in
the United States; and
(B) through case studies, to assess amounts of potential energy
generation from such conduit hydropower projects.
(b) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report that describes
the results of the study conducted under subsection (a), including any
recommendations.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.

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Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013

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